Streets of Gensokyo City
by Wolfsbane706
Summary: In Gensokyo City, things are, usually, peaceful. Sometimes, though, the roar of modified engines can be heard as races happen. Various teams race at various times, but the focus here is on "Team 9", a loosely organized group of friends headed up by Charlotte "Cirno" Irnovestri. Most of them are only part-time racers, but when Cirno calls, Team 9 listens.


Charlotte "Cirno" Irnovestri was waiting. What for she wasn't completely certain about at the moment, but sitting in her ice blue Mitsubishi Eclipse was starting to get boring. She'd been sitting here, in the suburbs of Gensokyo City, just sitting for almost an hour now. She was tempted to call up Mystia or Rumia and ask them to pop down for a quick quarter-mile drag just so she'd have something to do. Instead, she opted for one of the other Team 9 members: Flandre Scarlet. Fishing her phone out of her pocket, she searched for Flandre's name and pressed the "call" button on her touchscreen.

"_FlanFlan__706, __at __your __service__. __How __may __I __take __your __order__?" _came the response when the call was answered.

Cirno almost laughed at Flandre's random greeting, but managed to keep a level head long enough to get the conversation going. "Flandre, you've never worked a day in the fast food business. Where are you, anyways?"

"_Oh__, __hi __Charlotte__! __I__'__m __working __on __my __high __score __in __Starhawk__." _That answer meant Flandre was playing a game, and by extension, would be "unable" to race. Actually, it was more along the lines of "she simply wouldn't stop playing her game until she'd done what she'd set out to do". In this case, beat her previous high score.

"Well, where's Remi? And I told you not to call me Charlotte unless we're with our families! On the streets, I'm 'Cirno'!"

"_Yeah__, __sure__, __okay__. __Remi__'__s __at __ballet __practice __with __that __one __girl __from __the __Heaven __Lounge__. __I __think __her __name__'__s __Tenshi__."_

"Remi hasn't taken ballet in years. Why's she taking it now?"

"_She __lost __a __bet __with __Mysti a __about __whether __or __not __Rumia __and __Okuu __would __blow __themselves __up __trying __to __make __a __steam__-__powered __generator__."_

"I take it they didn't blow themselves up?" Rumia Teszla and Utsuho "Okuu" Reiuji were the brains of the crew, sort of. Rumia was just the daughter of one of Gensokyo City's finest minds, while Okuu was a self-proclaimed nuclear specialist. Very rarely did things go well when those two put their heads together.

"_No__, __they __blew __themselves __up__. __Again__. __Remi __thought __they __wouldn'__t __be __able __to __botch __something __as __simple a__s __a __steam__-__powered __generator__. __She __thought __wrong __and __had __to __take __ballet __again__ '__cause __she __lost __the __bet__."_

Cirno was somewhat taken aback, but she still had other options. "Well, what about Sakuya? Is she available to race?" Sakuya Izayoi was the most trusted maid of the Scarlet sisters. The three had grown up together, literally. As such, she wasn't just a maid to Flandre and Remilia Scarlet, she was their best friend, too.

"_I __think __Sakuya__'__s __busy __with __laundry__, __but __I__'__ll __ask __anyways__, __just __as __soon __as __I __finish __up __with __my __high __score__." _That answer wasn't very promising.

"And how long is that going to take?"

"_Couple __minutes__. __Five__, __at __the __most__."_

Cirno nodded to herself. She'd been waiting for an hour already, so she could wait a few extra minutes. It wasn't like Flandre wouldn't keep her word. In fact, despite all of her shortcomings (up to and including a general tendency to poke everything new to her), Cirno considered Flandre to be the one member of Team 9 who never lied.

And, of course, true to Flandre's word, five minutes later, Cirno heard the clatter of a game controller being dropped on the floor, followed by a resounding call from the younger Scarlet. _"__Hey__, __Sakuya__!"_

"_What __is __it__, __young __mistress__?" _Surprisingly, Sakuya's words came through clear as day. Flandre's phone must have been on speaker when Cirno had called. In fact, if she focused hard enough, she could hear the faint sound of Flandre's footsteps as she went to Sakuya.

Creepy.

"_Cirno __wants __to __race __you__."_

"_Cirno__?" _She could imagine Sakuya putting on a blank face as Flandre tried to explain the phone.

"_Charlotte__. __You __know __her __as __Charlotte __Irnovestri__? __Short __girl __with __blue__-__dyed __hair__. __Drives __the__ '__silly __little __Mitsubishi__'." _Cirno recalled the first time she'd met with Sakuya. She'd been driving a stock silver Mercedes, but her skill in precision driving made Sakuya a force to be reckoned with during a race. Cirno had won, but she wondered briefly whether or not Sakuya had anything new to drive before she realized she'd been called "short" by Flandre.

"Flandre Rosalinde Scarlet, I am not short!" Cirno angrily shouted into her phone, imagining both Flandre and Sakuya flinching at the sudden noise.

"_Not as short as Remi, anyway!" _Flandre confirmed, giggling while Sakuya and Cirno simply sighed in exasperation.

"Anyway, I'm down by the Whiterock Ice Arena. Letty had to close early because of an emergency." Cirno explained. "I told Papa Nikolai that I wouldn't be home until late, 'cause I was skating, but since Letty closed early, I figured a race would fill the time." She neglected to mention that she'd been sitting there waiting for an hour. No need to seem desperate, after all.

"_Oh, cool." _Flandre commented. _"But, uh, where is it, again?" _The Whiterock Ice Arena was a personal favorite hangout of Team 9. Cirno, herself, had been going there since she was a little girl, and had actually convinced her father into funding the Arena when the larger Gensokyo City Ice Rink had opened up in the city center. As thanks, the owner, manager, and general proprietor of the Whiterock Ice Arena, Leticia "Letty" Whiterock herself, gave Cirno and her crew permanent free skating time whenever they liked.

"Flandre, the Whiterock Ice Arena is in the suburbs, across from the Eientei Clinic." Cirno explained. "You should remember where that is; you have to go there every week to refill the librarian's medication." The Eientei Clinic was a small-town clinic in a big city. The clinic carried all sorts of organic medication, but didn't really have the stock or equipment for more advanced prescriptions and cases.

"_Not usually, but yeah. I remember now. And hey! I beat my score! I'll be there in a few minutes, just let me get dressed." _Flandre spoke quickly enough that Cirno couldn't get a word in edgewise, but once she was finished, Cirno got her chance.

"So when you get down here, what kind of race should we do?" She heard scuffling from the other end and the tell-tale sound of clothes being recklessly pulled over a phone. "Circuit, sprint, Quarter-mile?"

_"I dunno. We'll figure it out when I get there." _Cirno heard a clattering noise—one that sounded a lot like a pair of ice skates being picked up by the shoelaces—and began to wonder just what Flandre was planning.

"Flandre, why are you picking up your skates?"

_"Huh? How did—? Oh! You heard that, huh? Well, there's always the chance Letty will finish up with whatever her emergency is and return to the rink, so I just wanna be prepared just in case." _She sounded so certain, but Cirno still had her doubts. _"Besides, you promised you'd teach me how to ice skate. You haven't fulfilled that yet, so two birds with one stone, right?"_

"Uh, I, well, I suppose, I guess." Cirno stammered. "I guess if you're so sure, we can see if she's back after we race."

"_Okay!" _Flandre replied. _"See ya in a few!"_

Cirno got her composure back in time to give a quick "Bye." to Flandre before she hung up. "Okay, then." she muttered to herself softly. Regarding her phone, she thought about whether or not to call someone else, just to make things interesting. "You know what, let's." she smirked softly and searched out a name. The phone rang twice, then the person Cirno was calling answered.

_"Rumia Teszla speaking, may I ask who's calling?" _That . .was _not_ the voice Cirno had been expecting to hear.


End file.
